Stuff

People know you’re serious when you make it in TequilaAficionado.com! Check out the 2nd to last paragraph…

Tequila attracts academic study
Thu, Dec 08 @ 02:01 AM

An education program in Jalisco offers a course on the role of tequila in rural development and popular culture.

During the week, Agustín Arce, 27, teaches administration to high school students in Tequila, Jalisco. On the weekends, he studies the fiery spirit that made his hometown famous.

Last month, Arce and 14 classmates began delving into topics as diverse as tequila’s origins, its role in rural development and its growing influence on art, music and popular culture through a new continuing education program at the University of Guadalajara (U de G). The program takes an academic approach to the subject, which most people only learn about in a bar and truly appreciate the next day.

“We think that people should know more about tequila — not only as a drink, but its origins, the (agave) plant and the process,” said Marcela García Bátiz, publicity director for U de G Virtual.

While a diploma program in tequila perhaps looks frivolous at first glance, numerous universities have offered courses investigating other alcoholic beverages, including beer, wine and Scotch whisky. And with tequila reaching dizzying levels of popularity both at home and abroad, García Bátiz said it was a pertinent topic — especially in Jalisco, where residents take a special pride in the drink.

‘JALISCO IS MEXICO’

The state’s history in fomenting the popularity of tequila — along with mariachi music and charreria — makes Jalisco the most Mexican of the Republic’s states in the eyes of local boosters. The state adorns its license plates with the image of an agave plant and its tourism secretariat coined the slogan “Jalisco is Mexico . ”

The drink, which previously masqueraded under the names vino de tequila and mezcal de tequila , played an important part in Jalisco’s development. A special tequila tax funded the construction of the state legislature and the implementation of Guadalajara’s first public waterworks system. The nature of agave cultivation influenced the architecture of Jalisco’s haciendas. Since the passing of appellation of origin laws in the 1970s, only beverages made from blue agaves grown in Jalisco and designated regions of Guanajuato, Michoacan, Nayarit and Tamaulipas may use the tequila name.

“Tequila is a beverage that identifies Jalisco and Mexico in the entire world,” García Bátiz said.

A PLANT WITH MULTIPLE USES

It’s also “a very broad subject,” she said, which U de G researchers have studied for decades. Recent research has also focused on the agave plant, tequila’s principle ingredient.

Research points to some of the agave plant’s properties, which include insulin, possibly benefiting diabetics. Rural development officials are pitching miel de agave, or agave syrup, as a sweetener that is ideal for soft drinks. Increased miel de agave production could also provide another market for agave growers, who in recent years have been receiving record low prices for their harvests.

The U de G course, officially titled “El Tequila, su cultura y su entorno,” enrolled an eclectic mix of teachers, foreign graduate students, tourism officials and journalists. All signed up for different reasons, but everyone expected to profit from the experience in some way.

“I live in Tequila, was born in Tequila, I’ve always worked in that community,” Arce explained, adding his knowledge of the beverage was previously somewhat limited. But as a teacher, he saw growing opportunities for his graduating students, equipped with an in depth knowledge of tequila, to find employment in his hometown’s burgeoning tourism industry. “I’m taking this course so I can pass on the information,” he said.

STUDYING COMMODITY CULTURE

Sita Gaytan, a graduate student in sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, serendipitously found the course. She is spending several semesters in Jalisco researching her thesis, which explores tequila culture from a crossborder perspective. The course offered her the chance to gain a wealth of information, she said, as well as access experts from academia and the tequila industry.

“I’m interested in how commodity culture shapes ideas about national identity and citizenship,” she explained.

Along with teaching academic modules, the course organizers scheduled trips to a tequila distillery and a hacienda and also planned sessions with culinary experts.

The non-credit course runs until March, when García Bátiz said the university would decide whether or not to offer it again. It could eventually become part of a degree program, she added.

BY DAVID AGREN
Special to The Herald Mexico
El Universal

Just got back from a job interview as a quality control tester for educational software. It would involve being in front of a computer 8 hrs a day M-F trying to make their programs crash and explaining how I did it to tech support in Utah. I think I did an excellent interview. The questions were better than at the English school- What primary school did you attend? ones- they asked what’s 19 x 32? What’s SQL? How would you test a DVD player? And the classic: Think of a situation where you had problems with a co-worker, how did you handle it?

Wondering why the page takes longer to load and is no longer standards compliant? That’ll be the Flash header I shoved in. It’s a tad controversial in the web design world for all kinds of reasons. Reason #1 being it’s more often than not completely pointless. I’ve never let that stand in the way of my blogging, and I’m not going to start now…

There’s going to be an overhaul of this here blog one of these days, so check back often or you might miss some of the steps along the way. And you know you’d be kicking yourself for weeks if that were to happen. *fights urge to type “NOT! (c)1992″*

Answer: I alerted the appropriate authorities, made clear my expectations, documented everything, then he was ‘restructured’ and left me threats, insults and other puerile crap on my answering machine. And now he’s on the streets, if there’s any justice in the world. Actually I skipped that particular anecdote and gave the answer they were probably looking for… anyroad, should hear back in a few days.

Went to a great restaurant for lunch today with Sita, Karne Garibaldi. Shall have to see if it’s open for Xmas dinner (cos Sita’s going back to CA for a few days and me mate Ed’s coming over to stay). Carne en su jugo (Meat in its own juice), their speciality, is a stew-like meal, with less vegetables and more steak, bacon and frijoles. They give you a bottomless plate of grilled onions and tortillas and all the cilantro and salsa you can stomach. All for 65 pesos. Which wouldn’t get you a Big Mac Meal in Taunton. They’re in the Guinness book for speed of service too. So they’re faster than Maccy D’s in Taunton too. Top restaurants in Guadalajara so far:

1. La Matera- Argentine grill.
2. La I Latina- Fusion food in an achingly cool setting
3. Karne Garibaldi- fast, local, cheap and filling

You may have seen I’ve changed the blog header a little bit. I don’t think it’s going to stay like that. One of these days I’ll do a complete overhaul of the place. Sita says it’s not bad for “someone that hates pets” which is a bit strong. I’m quite fond of them but think life is a LOT easier, cheaper and less stressful without them around 24-7. I can’t deny they’re cute, mind. I was going for a Charlie’s Angels pose in the header, mais non.

Other local news: Shoes in Guadalajara only go up to size 10. So it’s trainers for tomorrow’s interview.

Skype me if you’d like to know more…

I’m trying to learn flash online from the free bits of tutorials offered by sites trying to sell you whole courses. It’s a bit hit and miss. I managed to get the fade in/out thing easily enough: see here. But the animation bit needs work. This took far too long to make and really is for want of a better description, piss poor:

I’m embarassed for myself. And Klem and Lulu. Still you’ve got to start somewhere, no?

If you’ve ever wondered, as I have, what would happen if we let Atticus keep digging and didn’t try and didn’t dissuade him with a blast from the hose pipe? This site has the answer. If he was in Guadalajara (which looks increasingly unlikely given his ability to charm his ‘grandparents’ in Downey, CA) he’d end up flooding the garden when he reached the middle of the Indian Ocean. Jed would end up just off the coast of New Zealand so Stu’n’Anne could look after him for a bit- they’ve just arrived there and already bought some wheels. Don’t know what it is about Taunton that makes people want to travel as far away as humanly possible from it…

I’m pretty happy with how the Gwod Park Site is progressing. Feedback is appreciated as always…
Click here for voluntary ecological goodness

Jose’ll be round any second to help us get through the Noche Buena seasonal beer and whatever Sita’s scheming to cook (curry I think). That’s if the paint fumes haven’t knocked her out. Taupe is today’s colour it appears…

There was a “here comes the science” explanation of the algorythm used to calculate this, but I just kept clicking around the site trying to find out where I can redeem this voucher.

So matey rings our doorbell yesterday, strimmer in hand, promising to work wonders on our front garden, lawn and trees, ‘Bien profesional, bien bonito’. I feel quite chuffed that I manage to haggle him down from 300 to 150 pesos (15 of your earth dollars). I close the deal with a handshake and leave him to it, wandering back to my design stuff. I hear the strimmer (weedwhacker in US parlance, I believe) whirring away. The doorbell rings again, he needs to go and get seed and fertilizer for the lawn and can I give him the money in advance. If this was the UK/ US I wouldn’t have done it, but after my dealings with the gasfitter bloke who sorted out the boiler, this is the level of service I was expecting. If you cut lawns for a living, you won’t have much in the way of pesos to buy extra stuff. So I gave him 130 pesos and he saunters off. This was yesterday. No sign of him today neither.

Then my hopes were raised when some gardeners pulled up outside the house today, but they were there for Senora Teresa next door. I asked if they knew about this landscaper from yesterday and they patiently explained, ‘parece que te chingó ese jardinero’ (Oi reckon you got screwed over by that there gardener bloke in Wurzel) which I’d sort of worked out for myself. Ah well.

It hasn’t put me off gardens, though. Oh no. In fact I went for a meeting with the director of Guadalajara’s Metropolitan Park to offer my services. I’m going to make them a website to attract corporate sponsors and more volunteers to the, frankly, near-insolvent parque. I had a wander round and it’s a big old space, but there weren’t many people there today. They come in the mornings- 6am, evenings, 5pm and weekends apparently. So the photos I took to put on the website are a little unappetizing for now. Bless them though, it’s had a rocky old history. In 1992 a local politician tried to sell it off as a golf course and pocket the change but got caught last minute during a close analysis of accounts after the streets exploded (long story), and since then they’ve got by with volunteers, military and community service people. They can’t afford to buy trees so all the new plants are grown from cuttings from local forests and they’re looking for sponsors for the BBQ areas. The plan is to be a world-class, self-sustaining tourist attraction by 2010. I reckon they’ll do it too, and let’s see if I can’t help with a bit of HTML.

I’m sure that in 2 years time we’ll look back and laugh from within our virtual reality tacto-suits with neuro-implants, but for today I’m mightily impressed with Skype’s beta video conferencing thing. Had a lovely chat with me folks and could see them in as much detail as the unnatural light of 11pm GMT would allow. Even Sita joined in the fun. It also allowed them a chance to comment on the latest paint that Sita’s selected and to see this picture of her levitating behind our settee.

I’ve been at the online scrabble a fair bit of late. It’s a good way to pass the time during bouts of insomnia. Probably the most important factors are:
a) it’s never more than 2 players, meaning there’s a greater chance of you getting decent tiles at some point and
b) each player has a time limit (I go for between 10 and 15 minutes per side, depending how alert I’m feeling) so there’s no interminable waits and
c) I like the optional chat feature where you can discuss the weather in Cheltenham, or Istambul and so forth
d) Using the “SOWPODS” dictionary means you’re playing against other denizens of the UK or ex-pats so you can be certain your conversation won’t be misinterpreted by someone in Alabama, and they won’t question words like ‘chuffed’.

I wish there was an online Spanish version too, but for now there’s only English, French, Romanian, Italian, or Dutch. It’s almost as if people in Spanish-speaking countries have better, more interesting, more fulfilling lives…Surely not?

Anyroad, my favourite number’s always been 23 and now I know why:

Pholph’s Scrabble Generator My Scrabble Score is: 23. What is your score? Get it here.

I was looking forward to wandering round the International Book Festival, but as Sita and I approached the entrance I was turned away because I didn’t have a press pass. So the only photos i have are from hanging around outside. Sita picked up some bargain books on Tequila and we’ll go back tomorrow when they allow gente de la calle like me in. I also had a bit of a wander around the barrio while Sita shmoozed.

Anyroad, from FIL through traffic chaos to Starbucks (their coffee’s good, what can I say?) and onto Santa Teresita to try and find more gaudy paint than Walmart were prepared to sell us. The sun was setting and the xmas decoration stands were out, have a butcher’s here. We didn’t find any paint shops but it was a nice little stroll. Sita’s cooking now, chicken and ginger I believe, and I think later on a quiet night in watching Jonathon Ross interview Gorillaz.

I’ve got an meeting with the Guad. parks authority on Friday. Which sounds promising, voluntary, but promising. May the floodgates be flung open. And thanks Arturo for long distance proof reading and thoughtful and entertaining emails.

Hasta pronto,
gwyn

I keep making highly selective posts, first no vegetarians, and now one for Spanish speakers who’ve been to Guadalajara. Apologies… Click on the “Comments” link below for 55 “You know you’re a Guadalajaran (Tapatio) if…”. Highlights include: You put lime on your tacos al pastor, you know where at least one narcotraficante lives, you went to or plan to go to the University of Guadalajara…

I joined Technorati today and appear to be getting a bit of traffic from it. Thanks for stopping by and if you fancy the full-on stalking experience check out the rest of the site that starts here at www.gwynunlimited.com.

And in other news, our water’s on the blink again.

>>Se sabe que alguien es tapatio cuando:
>>1. Le pone limon a sus tacos al pastor
>>2. Toma chesco en vez de refresco
>>3. Le dice mijo o mija a cualquier wey que nunca a visto
>>4. Dice EY o SIMON en vez de SI
>>5. Dice “me volaron” en vez de “me robaron”
>>6. Nunca visita el centro mas que pa’ comprar en una merceria, uniformes, tela, o algo pa un trabajo de la escuela.
>>7. Se estaciona en el camellon
>>8. Compra sus chelas en en oxxo
>>9. Conoce por lo menos dos sucursales de TELAS PARISINA
>>10. Conoce los tacos del Venado o los tacos Fonseca
>>11. Va al cine los miercoles
>>12. Dice la palabra FRESA o la palabra NACO por lo menos 10 veces al dia
>>13. Tiene algun conocido que conoce a alguna de las esposas/amantes/novias de Alejandro Fernandez
>>14. Ha estado por lo menos una vez en las fiestas de Octubre
>>15. Ha escuchado la cancion “porque te tatuatis”
>>16. Va a comprar tortillas con un trapo en la mano
>>17. Va a la tiendita de la esquina a comprarse pecositas, tix tix, o rockaletas!
>>18. Ha comido jericallas
>>19. Va a por lo menos dos posadas al año
>>20. Come buñuelos
>>21. Le gusta bailar Banda y punchis punchis
>>22. Sale a jugar “fucho” con sus amigos aunque no sepa
>>23. Ha estado en el estadio jalisco por lo menos una vez y piensa que esta PADRISIMO!
>>24. Dice “eda” en vez de “verdad”
>>25. Dice “ira” en vez de “mira”
>>26. Dice NEL en vez de no
>>27. Le encantan los Simpson
>>28. Su idolo es Beto Cardenas
>>29. Le agrega “S” a los verbos…. comistes, tirastes, jugastes
>>30. Lo llevaron como 50 veces al zoologico de chiquito
>>31. Se ha trepado a todos los juegos en Selva Magica
>>32. Piensa que Divertido Guadalajara es un fiasco!
>>33. Ha tomado o vende Omilife
>>34. Ha ido al tianguis del sol, al de zapopan, o a cualquier otro!!!
>>35. Sabe la direccion de Oswaldo Sanchez
>>36. Sabe que el cerro del cuatro se llama asi por el canal jajajajaja
>>37. Le encanta ver MTV y canta canciones en ingles aunque no sabe lo que significan
>>40. Lo han asaltado
>>41. Sabe donde vive por lo menos un narco
>>42. Esta molesto que ahora en vez de decir Chedrauoiuuouiuouoyi o lo que sea!
>>43. Piensa que Plaza Galerias esta perrona!
>>44. Ha ido a pasearse en carritos electricos en la plaza
>>45. Ha ido por lo menos una vez al grito el 15 de Septiembre
>>46. Ha visto un castillo de fuegos artificiales en el templo
>>47. Ha jugado futbolito en la feria de las fiestas patronales del templo!!!!!
>>48. Dice cosas como “chin!”, “ay wey”, “chido”, o “casi casi”
>>49. Sabe que Guanatos significa Guadalajara y no Guanajuato!!!!
>>50. Ha bailado el Son de la Negra, el jarabe tapatio, o Guadalajara, Guadalajaaaaaaa
>>51. Le cae gordo Jorge Arana
>>52. Sabe que Galilea Montijo trabajo en el Cucurrucucu, y que este lugar es un Teibol!
>>53. Fue o planea ir a la Universidad de Guadalajara
>>54. Veia Sixto o Lalo y Lagrimita!!!
>>55. Sabe que Guadalajara es la ciudad mas bella de Mexico aunque no haya ido a ningun otro lugar del pais!!!!!
>>Si te identificaste con un buen de estas cosas que me avente…enorgullesete, eres un buen tapatio!!!!

Stolen from http://spaces.msn.com/members/hectorock88resaka/PersonalSpace.aspx?_c=

You turn your back for 10 minutes, then the next thing you know your kitchen and other parts of the house change colour.
We’re in two minds about whether to leave it white or paint the same colour on the door area. Comment if you’ve really nothing better to do…

We went to the opening ceremony of the festival in Tequila yesterday. Click on the picture of Sita and Jayna (sp?) for a slideshow of the highlights. We took the toll road for 89 pesos (9 bucks, 5 quid). The journey there was easy enough- through foothills and fields of agave as the sun was setting. But it’s a steep price for 25 miles of dual carriageway. It’s not like we were going to Wales (How much is the Severn Bridge these days?). Anyroad, we got there and made our way along the route of the procession and found a bar to settle in (El Mesón del Mezcal). Before we knew it we were freebied up with margaritas and chips and salsa while two blokes trundled along the road pausing only to fill their minicanon with gun powder, tamp it down, light the fuse and fire it into the air. An indio beer and a torta ahogada later and the procession arrived, just like Taunton’s carnival, but without a float playing Wurzels hits.

We wandered into the town centre after all the desfile had passed by and drank in the sights. They cut the ribbon on the festival and the P.A. system launched into Tequila. Anyroad, a nice little evening. I missed the turn off for the toll road on the way back so it took an hour or so as I wasn’t up to overtaking the lorry we were stuck behind. Got back to Guad, dropped off Victor & Jayna and went to Rene’s house for beverages, tales of surgical disasters, and light snacks. Got home quite late. But all in all a grand day.

What do you reckon to this?
http://agaveweb.com/menu2.htm

It’ll have some rollover nonsense added at some stage. Like hover over the “contact” sign and a Mexican police car will appear and an alert box will take you to PayPal for 400 pesos…
Me Mum wants to see worms and tequila for some reason…

The latest bell/whistle I’ve added to the blog, just to make it load slower for dial-up users, is a blog map, bottom right. I’m not convinced it’s a useful addition but it can stay there for a week or two to see if there’s a burgeoning blogging scene in Gwod. So far, it’s not looking good. There’s an 18 year old student- Mexico is my body, Chivas (the local football team, not the whisky) is my blood, He tells us. And there’s La Perla’ who’s a graphic designer who likes to go out drinking. And fair play to her.

I had to pinpoint where i lived on a huge scale map so it’s got me living East of Tlaquepaque, which isn’t strictly true. That’ll foil the burglars for a day or two…

Last night Sita, Jose and I went to an Argentinean restaurant, La Matera I think it’s called named after the gourd thing you drink mate out of. Mate wasn’t on the menu however, probably because it’s illegal in most countries. Jose chose the place after a recommendation from his sister about the food there and a colleague at work who recommended the meseras. Anyroad after 30 minutes wait or so, we ordered lomo, medium rare and bugger me if it wasn’t the most delicious piece of meat I’ve ever sunk my teeth into. Melts-in-your-mouth good, on a par with the filet mignon we had in Buenos Aires, and the filete in ‘La I Latina’, Guadalajara. Not only was it delicious, but plentiful too and there’s still some left in the doggy bag in the fridge. This place is only 5 or 6 blocks from the house, whenever I land another job I know where we’re going to celebrate.

Their chips weren’t bad neither…

So plans for day… AgaveWeb, possibly Tonala/Tlaquepaque (It’s market day), and a quiet evening, for tomorrow it’s round some mates’ house for Thanksgiving. Talking of which, happy TG to my american readers. William Burroughs wasn’t a fan, mind. Never was the cheeriest of folks though…